Ep 127: Final Fantasy 7 (Part 9) - The Birth of a Fandom w/ Justin Hamm

[00:00:12] Last week, Barry Karenza aired out the laundry and shook the cages of Final Fantasy 7 fans everywhere. This week, I offer a counterpoint. When I started the Final Fantasy 7 interviews back in June of 2024, Justin Hamm of the Stage Select Podcast was my first interview.

[00:00:33] And if you've ever listened to him on either Stage Select or Nerds Without Pants back in the day, you know Final Fantasy 7 was a formative part of his video game fandom. So who better to provide a positive yet balanced take on this landmark game? That, and we did the interviews so far in advance of me actually working on these episodes, I kinda forgot to cut it up for the series.

[00:01:02] I wish I could say there's a grand master plan to all this, but I can't pretend this wasn't the result of an oops-a-daisy on my part. The good news is, Justin is an amazing guest and I truly think this conversation works as a companion piece to Barry's take from last week. So, it all worked out in the end, despite my lack of planning and foresight.

[00:01:30] Time to hit the ground running as we begin episode 127 of A Gamer Looks at 40, Final Fantasy 7 Part 9, The Birth of a Fandom with Justin Hamm. It is pretty fancy. I gotta say, I'm pleased with it. Yeah.

[00:01:58] So, Mr. Hamm of Stage Select Podcast, how are you, good sir? I'm here. I'm doing alright. Fantastic! Yeah. That's your usual open whenever you're talking on Stage Select. This is my vibe at all times. I exist. People think it's like a bit, it's really not, this is just how I am. It is absolutely not a bit from someone who's only interacted with you a few times. You can just tell this is not a character you're playing. No, no. No, it's the opposite if I play a character usually.

[00:02:27] Then I'm really exuberant and stuff. So, yeah. Gotcha. I love it. And I always say, I think the world needs more Justin Hamm in it. And I think we all could use a little more Justin Hamm in us. Just that kind of even keel, here it is. That phrasing was really weird, but okay, yeah, okay. Yeah, I mean... Sorry. That's okay. That's odd phrasing. You're very good at points, and I apologize for that. Oh, it's fine. It's fine. But you understand the spirit of what I'm trying to say here. Absolutely.

[00:02:57] Yes. Yeah, and the, it's not a chill demeanor, it's just an even keel. Yeah. I think. Don't get too excited about things, you know? Yeah. But, you know, I guess it's just this. This is it. Yeah. This is it. Yeah. I love it. But we are here to talk a bit about a game that is evidently very near and dear to your heart, which is Final Fantasy VII. Yes. So let's just jump right into it. What was your first experience with it? What would you, when did you play it for the first time?

[00:03:27] And we'll just roll from there. All right. So interestingly enough, I, my first experience with it was not me actually playing it. It was my friend playing it. I, but I, I knew what it was because I was the person who kept up with video games. I, so like Final Fantasy VII was very hyped before it came out. Like it, it, it was in every magazine, you know, I read.

[00:03:55] Um, so I had been, you know, keeping up with it through that. Um, and I knew what Final Fantasy was because I had, I, I owned Final Fantasy Mystic Quest because somebody bought it with my Super Nintendo and somebody showed me Final Fantasy VI in the weirdest possible way. You can show someone Final Fantasy VI by showing them a really cool part of the game that I was like, oh, I get this thing now. Uh, that's awesome.

[00:04:24] Like they showed me like the, the split up part. And I was like, this is, oh, this is great. Like, like, this is awesome. Like they, I got, I seen like the Phantom train and all this stuff. It was like the greatest vertical slice you could see. And then they went, okay, now let me show you the end of the game. And then they showed me the Kefka fight. And I was like, okay, well now I know what happens, but my mind is blown. So cool. Um, wow. So I was, so at that point I, I, and I always wanted to play six, but I never got to because it was expensive.

[00:04:51] So when seven was coming out, I was like, okay, this is that I knew it was, you know, the sequel to, to six or it was three here. That was all a whole different thing. Um, so I, I knew it was coming out and I was like, oh man, it'd be, it'd be cool if somebody played that. But I, my friends aren't going to get that. Um, but it was big enough to where they did get it. And like, I don't know if they had it gifted to them. They, their dad was kind of rich, I guess, but not really.

[00:05:20] Um, but anyway, they got final fantasy seven and my first exposure to it was me going over to their house and they had already been playing it all weekend before me. And they were in Nibelheim, uh, which is the, uh, the mansion part. Um, after, not after the flashback and all that stuff. Right. Right. So, um, they get there and they were like, I am stuck on this guy. I cannot get past him. That's the, it's the, uh, safe boss.

[00:05:47] Uh, his name is missing no or missing number or whatever, because you know, it's safe. You gotta, it's a, there's a missing number. I don't know. Um, and that guy is an asshole when you're like 11, I should mention I was 11 when this was happening. And neither of us, neither of us are very experienced in RPGs at this point. We do. So the trick to that guy is you have to, if you use magic to, to get him down to a certain point, he's a different boss.

[00:06:13] If you'd use physical attacks, which is all my friend was using, he is damn near impossible for that point in the game. So we just kept, you know, physically attacking him and not, and wondering why the hell we were just getting demolished by him until eventually we, you know, struck, you know, the best of luck and got the magic version. And that's the version that you can actually beat. And then we went and got Vincent and that was really cool. And I was like, oh man, this game's really awesome. And like, we're going through and like, he's showing me like the Sephiroth part.

[00:06:42] And I'm like, he's like, as we go, he's explaining everything to me. He's like, no, this is the bad guy. All right. He's doing this and this and this. And I'm like, oh, this is cool. All right. All right. So I don't remember exactly when it was. It might've, it definitely wasn't the next day, but it might've been within that week. Some point we, I went to the store and I, and I was just like, well, if he's got the game, I'm going to buy the strategy guide for it.

[00:07:08] Um, so I bought the strategy guide for final fantasy seven, not owning the game and just, okay. And it was the official one. I, uh, the, the official Prima strategy guide, big white book that had, it was a terrible strategy guide. It just had spoilers galore in it. Um, sure. Yeah. Yeah. If you, if you actually read through every paragraph, it would detail what was happening in the cut scenes and stuff. Um, to, to, to a lot of, yeah.

[00:07:38] A lot of it, not, not, I don't, if, if memory serves, it didn't go through like every like bit. Like I think in like certain key moments, it didn't tell you exactly what happened. It was like, wait around and find out and see what's going on. And then it's like, okay. But, but for the most part, it was like telling you what was happening. So you could, you could, yeah. So I didn't skip ahead too much and I, I was lazy and didn't like reading all the way through. So it didn't really bother me. It was mostly like we were, we were going there for boss strategy. Cause we, yeah. Again, we were pretty inexperienced at this stuff. Yeah.

[00:08:08] That's makes perfect sense. And we're, so we were doing that and, and, but, but I, you know, scoured that thing. I knew like all the boss strategies. I would read through them all. Eventually like I, I found the other strategy guide, which is the good one, which I would the Brady games one, I believe. Yeah. Brady games is the, is the other, that was the good one. Um, and that, and so I bought that one too. And so I had both strategy guides and I would just take these with me wherever I went and I would, I just would, I just sat there and memorize the game.

[00:08:37] Didn't own it because I was that into it. Um, and so that's what I did. Um, I was, I was on, on the bench, just be like, okay, here's what you need to do for this guy. This, you need this, this and this. And then he'd go, okay. And then he'd do stuff and I'd be like, why are you doing that? That's not what you're supposed to do. No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that. Um, that's, and that's, that was final fantasy seven for me.

[00:09:04] Now later on, I eventually got a PlayStation and got the game and, you know, did it, did all this stuff myself. Um, which was funny because I had it so memorized at that point that I, I now, now I, I could probably play that game, still get everything and know every single bit about it without having to look up anything just about, um, it's kind of ridiculous. That's amazing. I first think my first comment on that is I love how it sounds like it was a communal experience. Yeah.

[00:09:34] And I, and I, and I think it's really cool as I'm going through these single player final fantasy games, I'm hearing so many stories of having people having communal experiences like with friends playing this solo RPG. Like this is not NBA jam. This is not street fighter two. This is final fantasy. And you would think it's sitting by yourself experiencing it. So many people have a similar story where they're with people experiencing it. How do you, do you think that, um, well, first off, do you still keep in contact with

[00:10:04] that friend or? No, I, I lost contact with them a long time ago. So, um, I, I know where their, I, their, their moms that where they lived, their mom still lives in that house. I know that because my grandma lives next door to them. Um, or well lived next door to them, but she, she passed away pretty recently, but, um, Oh yeah. But, um, yeah, no, she still lives there.

[00:10:29] Um, I, I, I've seen him a few times and you know, we're, I bet he doesn't recognize me very much cause I got a big beard now. So, you know, there's that, um, that'll, that'll happen. Yeah. Their, their, their name was Chad of all things. So, so every time I hear like that guy's the total Chad, that's what goes through my head. I'm like, that's so funny. Yeah. It's, it's, it's, it was like, he was a little doofus. Like I was too. So it's fine. We got along great. Yeah. I love it.

[00:10:59] I love it. Remember there are real people named Karen and there are real people named Chad. Like the, those people are out there. They are out there and they may, they may not be that stereotype. Yeah. Uh, the only reason I ask is like, again, I think it's just really interesting. That communal experience when you, do you feel like that helped you appreciate the game more as an 11 year old, having someone to go work through it with or. Yeah. Yeah. I think so.

[00:11:29] Um, yeah, because, because I, I, we both got to experience all of like the highs and the lows together. Like there, there were like devastating moments in that game. I mean, not even storyline moments. There were parts in our playthrough that were just devastating. Um, and we, we both felt that heartbreak, uh, equally like it was, it was, yeah, it was, it was, it was a soul crushing. There was, there was a point in our playthrough where, um, we were going through the story pretty quick.

[00:11:59] Like we were, you know, we were going like, okay, go to the next thing, go to the next thing, go to the next, we'll get to the, we'll get to the extras later. Don't worry about it. Um, and we got to a certain point in the, in the game where, um, I believe I can't remember the exact, uh, name of the location or the boss's name. Um, I want to say it was like tall arms or something like that. He's a, he's a giant dude with these big long arms that he would grab party members. And, um, and he hit very hard.

[00:12:28] He was right before the submarine. Um, uh, that, that guy stopped our run cold. Uh, we could not beat him. We did not have enough stuff to beat him. We, we didn't have like the proper, like things in, in place to do anything. We stopped us cold, man. So we had to restart the entire game. Uh, yeah. Whoa. So you just weren't a spec at all. Yeah.

[00:12:52] You just weren't a lot of, so while we were playing it together, I wasn't there all the time, Bill. So sometimes he would just kind of rush ahead and then fill me in later. And he'd be like, okay, so, so, so I went and did this, this and this, and this is what happened. And I'm like, okay, well, all right, well let's pick it back up here. And then like, and yeah, that was a point. And this is hard to explain to like younger people, but like, yeah, I assume a lot of

[00:13:20] people listening to this show will kind of recall it. Like when you hear that, like stop your run cold. Well, why didn't you have multiple saves? It was like, it was a PlayStation one. You didn't really have room on that. Their memory card to really have multiple saves. You could maybe have two like, and that was about it. And if you're 11 years old, you're not really thinking about that. So you're just like, Oh, just save. It'll be fine. You know? And, and we got locked in. You couldn't back out or anything like that.

[00:13:47] So we were that, that a lot of, we had, we had hit points where we hit a wall and we, we could back out a little easier. That part, you can't back out. You were stuck there. So it was, and I don't believe, I guess it's been a while since I've played it, but I actually started replaying it for this show recently, just kind of doing another quick run through and I haven't gotten to that point yet, but I don't think you can even like grind at that area. I think you are, like you said, just kinda, you're just kinda stuck. Cause you probably see. Yeah. You, you're really, you're pretty much stuck.

[00:14:16] I think all the, the encounters in that area, if memory serves and they don't, it doesn't serve well. That's fair. I keep thinking there were, there were like a, like preset encounters in that area. It's one of the few parts. Like, I think like soldiers see you and they rush at you and that's really all you get. That's all you get. I could be wrong on that, but. And, and I, so it's not a random encounter yet. No, I, I, there might be random encounters, but it's been a while, but we needed like lightning stuff. We didn't have, we needed, um, um, like protect or something.

[00:14:46] Didn't have it. At some point he had missed that in because it was like earlier in the game or something like that. Or you just did, just didn't have the way to get it. And we were just like, yeah, the best one is mighty guard, which is an enemy skill. You can, you can, you can just basically own that guy with that. That's that enemy skill. Like he just can't do anything. He just does nothing. It's great. Um, but, um, yeah, like later on, we, when we went, got back to him, we, you know, crushed him.

[00:15:12] And, but the only good thing about having our run stopped cold like that was he had to start over and I got to be there for it. So I got to see everything that I missed, but with, you know, with him this time. So it kind of worked out in a way, you know, um, it was, it was crushing at the time, but it worked out in a way. And also we knew of like, he had also spent a lot of time leveling up earth, um, because didn't know that was coming. Nope.

[00:15:42] I'm up. I really hope the prima games, uh, strategy guy didn't spoil that for you. I believe it had a screen. It didn't have a screenshot of her dying, but it had the screenshot of like the closeup of her and her face or whatever, like in that right before the moment happens. And, and a funny, funny story about that moment, actually. Go for it. Yeah. Go for it. Um, so we had that spoiled for us. Um, he and I both did.

[00:16:11] Um, we had a friend, uh, well, it was his stepbrother. Um, and I knew them from school. They were my age and Chad was a year younger than me. Um, they were the, this, the stepbrother was my age. I knew them from school. Um, they were kind of a dick. They were, they, they were a rich kid, like straight up, but like they were, they were an okay, we, he and I got along, but they were kind of a dick, especially poor Chad.

[00:16:36] Like, you know, um, so they spoiled that for them, but it was such a, an out there spoiler that he, we thought they were messing with us. Like just straight up. We're like, that's no way. That's, that's come on. Or, or we thought that like, maybe he screwed something up and that's why it happened. So we're, we're like, we're not going to let it happen. If that is true. Like that seems weird. Like I, he's, he's full.

[00:17:05] Like that, that's not going to happen. Um, and then when it did, we were, we, so when it did happen, we were like, oh my God, it, it happened. Oh, okay. Well, now what? Now what? Yeah. That, so it was a whole thing. Um, but yeah, that was right at the cusp of like the internet was just starting to be a thing. I remember it was 97 and I'm pretty confident I was online by then.

[00:17:34] Like AOL 3.0 or 4, 3.0 probably one of those AOLs. Yeah. I'm sure I was in a chat room. I don't remember. I don't think it got spoiled. It was one of those like worst kept secrets, but it was like one of the first secrets that everybody kind of knew eventually, eventually, eventually you knew, eventually you, you, you heard about it. So it's interesting that you got it purposely spoiled and then it was like, no, come on. Yeah. That's crazy. Or you screwed up.

[00:18:04] I, I, I could totally see that's how I felt in final fantasy six when that world of ruin happened. Right. I thought, what did I do wrong? Yeah. Like I did everything right. I beat the guy. I got to the end by the time where I even saved shadow and I lost. That's not how games were. No, no. And I remember thinking like, do I have to restart? Try this again. But obviously that's not the case. So. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's wild, man. Yeah. It was, it was, it was, uh, it was an entertaining time.

[00:18:34] I'll tell you what. Um, but, um, it, it, that, it was fun. Like that. I remember that, that night very vividly. That was a night where we were like, it was, I think the weekend. And so, you know, we were both off of school and I was staying the night over there and we were up late as hell, just playing that. And that happened. And we, we were both like, we were both like beside her. We were just like, Oh my God, I can't believe it really happened.

[00:18:59] Uh, and, and then like, you know, everything starts popping off after that point, uh, which that was also fun. We, we thought we were, we thought our run stopped at Genova death until we figured out that like, Oh, the fire ring would just wins the fight. We're fine. It's cool. Um, it's good. Yeah. Uh, yeah, that's, uh, that's crazy, man. Yeah. That's a good story, man. That's, that's crazy. I was, I was, I was going to ask you about, um, big moments and also small moments. Oh yeah.

[00:19:25] I thought the best final fantasies do are the great, you know, obviously we all remember the giant moments, you know, Aerith dying and Sephiroth for introduction to Sephiroth and all these great big moments. And we can definitely talk about those. Yeah. Um, but I also love hearing about the small moments, like the little grace notes in a game that just struck you or impacted you either then or now. Yeah. Um, I will talk about kind of how you feel about the game now as opposed to back then, but any like small moments that you remember vividly that just kind of stick out. Let's see.

[00:19:55] Um, playing through it like a second time as, as more of an adult, not, not a full blown adult. It actually, I would say it'd been my, my like third or fourth playthrough. I actually played it on a mobile phone, like an emulated version of it on a mobile phone at some point and it wasn't, it wasn't like a cool smartphone either. It was, um, one of those, um, um, ones that you like used to flip up the screen and they'd have a whole keyboard on them. I played it like a sidekick. Yeah. Kind of like a sidekick.

[00:20:26] Yeah. It wasn't exactly that, but it was kind of like that. And I bought the, I had like a droid, I had a droid bionic, I think, or something, something, some nonsense like that had a resident evil game on it anyway. Yeah. Whatever. I can't remember what it was. I specifically bought it because I, I, I was like, if you want to play emulators on your phone, this is the way to do it. And I was like, okay, yeah. And I'm a 24, 24 year old, 25 year old scumbag. So yeah, I'm actually absolutely going to do that. Sure. Um, so, and I remember playing through certain bits.

[00:20:56] Um, one, one slight moment was, um, so, you know, when me and my friend played it, we didn't know about that. You could go into the North crater and just get out like you can just leave whenever, uh, he was terrified to go in there. So he wouldn't grind in there. He would only grind in the crash Galinka, um, or Galinka or whatever that is. Yeah. So it took forever. Um, yeah. Grind anything in that game.

[00:21:20] Um, but as an adult, I went, oh, I I've always heard about the item duplication trick. What if I just go and do that and just get a bunch of elixirs and then go, oh, oh, this is, oh, now everybody's level 99. I thought that was like impossible in this game. Oh, wow. I've been doing this wrong for years. That's, uh, that's sad. Um, storyline moments, storyline moments that have impacted me though.

[00:21:46] Um, the dying part, um, with, uh, Barrett always gets kind of that, that's like way intense as more and more intense as an adult. Like he, like that dude is sure. Dines an insane character. At least back then I thought he was, I think he's pretty interesting at least that whole dynamic between them. Um, I still love the, um, I, I remember losing us just going nuts, um, first play through and still, I still love it.

[00:22:15] Like it's the, uh, the scene where cloud, it is kind of a major moment, but at the same time, like I, I absolutely adore the, uh, the, the, uh, cloud getting kind of becoming himself and finding out who he actually is and all this stuff. And like the, I, the pop off was huge. Like it was just absolutely insane. And like, um, like my, I get chills like right now, just thinking about that part. Like it's, it's so cool. Um, other small moments.

[00:22:45] I always love, um, the part where you go to and you can stumble upon it, which was what we did. We did. We stumbled upon the Wu Tai section in disc three, uh, cause we just never went there. Um, so we just accidentally just stumbled on there and then Yuffie gets out and goes, Hey, I'm stealing all your material. We're like, Oh, Oh, I guess we're stuck here. Oh no. Um, so she, and it's like all the good material too.

[00:23:14] They're just like, cause you know, it's late and it's, you know, disc three, we have every, almost everything we didn't have. We're still working on certain things. But I, I think he just landed. He was like, what's this town right here? I've never seen this one and just landed. And if you land on that part, she'll like, you're supposed to go through all the bridges and all this stuff. It's a whole thing. We just were no, no, we just landed the thing and then walked right into town, which is funny. Um, they were like, all right, well, I guess we'll just do this now. Um, but like, I always loved that part.

[00:23:44] She just, we, it took, that took us like an entire day, even with a guide, because we just couldn't find where the hell she was hiding. Like, we just couldn't figure it out. Like it was, it was like, okay, she's like, she's over in here. And I was like, where, what do you mean? I don't, it can't find her. Um, so that, but, but I was like, I like, um, I love the Turks. I still love the Turks. Um, they're just really, really cool.

[00:24:13] I love their theme song. I love just the way they dress in suits. They do bad guy stuff, but they're not really like that. They're straight up mercenaries. Like, I always think that's like great about them. Like they're like, look, it's just a job, man. We don't really care about this, but like, yeah. Yeah. They're very like workmanlike. They just kind of gig and it's like, oh, this is, this is a gig and they're, and they're okay at their job. Right. They're pretty okay.

[00:24:42] Sometimes they're like, ah, we're just going to, you know, it's fine. We're just going to take off. I always love when you beat like rude. He'll like check his watch. Like, I got it. I got to go. Sorry. I, you know, I got to bounce. You didn't, you didn't win. I just got to leave. That's all. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's, that's great. But like, I love when you show up at that part and like you team up with the Turks, which was like my favorite, because they're like, we're, we're on vacation. That is cool. We're not, you know? And, and like, so like the entire game just going through and being like, oh man, and these guys are really cool.

[00:25:12] You know, they're not really that bad guys. I wish you could get them to your side. And then you have this little like mutual understanding of like, look, we're not going to do anything to each other. We need to stop. We need to take care of this Don Corneo problem. And you're like, I love that part. That's always been one of my favorites. That's really cool. That is a very cool part. And I think it happens. Yeah. I pretty much, is it later in the game? If I remember correct. I'm again, it's my, I'm playing through it right now. And I, I haven't gotten there yet. Wu-Tai, you can get as soon as you get the tiny Bronco.

[00:25:40] And in fact is when you were supposed to do that. Okay. Yeah. You can get there on the shallow water. Um, and that, because that's how you're supposed to do it. You're supposed to land the tiny Bronco on one of the shores and be like, where am I? Because you're trying to find a temple of the ancients or whatever. And so you're, so you land here and then UP steals all your material and it's a whole thing. Um, yeah. And that's why there's all these like elaborate bridges in the world that you can go over and all this stuff. It's a whole thing. Yeah. Gotcha.

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[00:27:25] In some of our other conversations, I've heard you say this on stage select and of course, nerds, nerds out pants. You state that Final Fantasy seven turned you from a video game player to a fan, like it elevated your fandom.

[00:27:55] I'd love to hear how that happened. Um, it was, it was mostly like kind of not getting, getting exposure to like RPGs. Um, so the rentals, most, most people like, uh, around my age, I guess, uh, we got a lot of different games through the rental place, you know, that that's whatever rental store you had. And mine was terrible. Uh, looking back at it.

[00:28:22] Um, so I recently downloaded like an emulator cause I wanted to play something else. Um, and, and was looking at like all the super Nintendo games that were out there. I was just going through, I was like, man, I was thinking about what my rental place had. And I start going through and I'm like thinking, I'm going and seeing like, you know, classic after classic, we didn't have that. We didn't have that. We had bulls versus blazers. We didn't have that. We didn't have that.

[00:28:48] We did have, um, the, this weird version of, uh, this sports game. They had like every sports game imaginable cause that's what people rented. And, but there was, but then there'd be like random copies of like rock and roll racing and clay fighter. And it's like clay fighters garbage, but like, I didn't know any, it was different. It was, it wasn't a sports game. So I was, I would play it, you know? Why not? Um, and like, I would say, I would say there was two games that kind of cemented.

[00:29:18] Me playing video games. One got me to like, okay, I really like video games and this is something I, I will probably, you know, at least while I'm a kid play. And what that one was street fighter, um, street fighter, 100% got me like into games. That's a whole different discussion. If you ever do a street fighter thing, I got some, um, but, but, um, but final fantasy seven, once I got like sick, getting exposed to six and seeing that, I was like, Oh, I get it. This is what I want.

[00:29:47] Like, I want a story in a video game. That's what I want. And set and, and just sitting through the entire thing of seven and like, you know, all the strategizing and all the, like thinking it was, it was more like, um, more like a board game in my brain. Like it was, I had to outsmart it. It wasn't like, you know, I, it wasn't a skill thing. It was like, no, no, I have time. Let me think of what I need to do. And that's, that's more the games that I like. Like I'm cause I'm bad at video games, but I can think about stuff, you know? So like, sure.

[00:30:17] So getting exposed to that, I was like, Oh, there, there are games like this. Oh, Oh, I'm in. This is, this is what I'm going to do forever. And it also came up at like a, a really like kind of pivotal moment in my life too. It was cause I, you know, I was, I was 11 years old or whatever that was. Um, and, and you know, that it was that it just had all these cut scenes and all this stuff going on. And I was like, it was edgy. Like people were cussing. Barrett was, Sid was smoking cigarettes.

[00:30:46] It was a whole thing. Like, it was just like the perfect game for an 11 year old kid to just be like, no, this is it for me. This is awesome. Like, I love this. And like, and then, and that's when it, and from there I'd be like, Oh, there has to be more of these like RPGs. I need to like find all of them. And, and from there I started getting into like other stuff and finding all these other things. So final fantasy seven really like set that off for me. Like, Oh, okay. This is the type of stuff I like. It's fighting games and RPGs.

[00:31:14] I don't know the two most different things ever, but yeah, that was me. Um, yeah. Yeah. Well, that's really, that's really cool. Cause I, and I think that really speaks to final fantasy seven was the first game that I felt like, and again, I never played it as a kid. I never played it. I was 97. I was 17. So I was kind of figuring out high college stuff at that time. And I was, you know, I, I was kind of getting out of games for a period. So I didn't have much PlayStation experience.

[00:31:42] So for me, as soon as final fantasy seven was released on a not Nintendo console, it was it, I was over. I'm like, well, now you're dead to me. Now you're dead because I'm still in the console wars. I'm still a brigadier general in team Nintendo. And I cannot, I cannot buy some stupid thing from Sony. Sony makes my CD player. They don't make games. I have, I have a funny bit of information about that. So, um, go for it. Um, I, I, I wasn't that guy.

[00:32:12] Like I actually wanted a Sega Saturn more than anything in the world at that point. Uh, because while I own Nintendo stuff and all my friends had Sega stuff, but they didn't have the Saturn. So if I got the Saturn, the new Sega thing, I'd be really cool. Um, but then I was like, okay, the Saturn just kind of died. You know, it just, it just did. Um, so it was either in, and the, the choice came, um, Hey, this Christmas, we know your friend has a PlayStation.

[00:32:41] Do you want a PlayStation or do you want a Nintendo 64? And I said, well, my friend has a PlayStation, so I, I can just go over there and play that. So get me a Nintendo 64 because that new Zelda is coming out. And let me tell you, I played that new Zelda and I was like, I regret this. I should have got a PlayStation.

[00:33:06] I'm not, I'm, I'm like, I think I still, because of final fantasy seven, because I, I still kind of hold like this, like torch against Zelda because of that. Like, I remember getting Zelda and being like, I don't really like this. I wish this was more like final fantasy seven. And, and the Nintendo 64 didn't really have, you know, RPGs on it or just, I mean, yeah, they're really nothing that I like. All I had was the wrestling games. I was like, those are good, but they're fun. Yeah.

[00:33:36] They were fun, but they weren't final fantasy seven. No, it was really, and like, and, and, and, and I'm, I'm sorry, Zelda fans. I really am. Like, I, I, I know it's a, I know Ocarina of time is a great classic game, but I hated it. I could not get into it. Like, I just couldn't. I, I, I never had, I've had an N64 and I never had Ocarina, but I had friends who had

[00:34:02] and I played it and everyone would just show me the moment when you get on Epona and ride into the, into the field. And I remember thinking, this is the next level of game exploration. Right. And when I play it now, I realized there's nothing out there at all. There's nothing there. There's a, I don't love Ocarina either. I don't love Ocarina. I love Majora. I Majora is something I played. Majora is now. Now I, I, I, after Ocarina was kind of like, well, I'm out on Zelda. That's not really my thing.

[00:34:31] But like looking back, like Majora's mask has some really cool ideas, like really cool. I love. Yeah. They always, the Zelda series is like so anti me. Like it just kind of is like, I love Zelda. I think it's awesome. But like, I'm always like, I hate puzzles. Um, I, I, I'm, I get really bored exploring things. I just want to kind of know where to go. And like everything that Zelda players love is the stuff that I'm like, I don't like, I don't want anything to do with that. Fine. Yeah.

[00:35:01] That's fair. That's video games. You know, there's something for everybody. Absolutely. But yeah, like I've always kind of held that torch against that because, because it's funny. Yeah. It's, it, it, it's, it is true. That's funny. I was going to say that, uh, when, with the, with final fantasy seven, when it came again, I, I remember what it was. I remember the, the environment when it was released, like you said earlier, it was everywhere. Every magazine, every game store had a giant cloud cut out.

[00:35:30] Like the fever pitch for final fantasy seven was unlike anything I had experienced as a, as someone with a little bit of disposable income that could actually purchase this thing. Right. If I wanted to. Right. Cause again, I was in college and I had like a job and all. Yeah. I feel like final fantasy seven was the game that grew up with us. It respected us. Final fantasy six respected us as young people, kids, mostly for me at least I was 14.

[00:36:00] Kids who could appreciate a deeper story, who could appreciate deeper characters. Right. Final fantasy seven felt like the first time I saw a Tarantino movie. Right. Or the first, you know what I mean? Like, oh, this is made for me. Right. Like this is made for me, edgy 17 year old. And I had friends who had it. And again, they show you, you know, the beginning and I, I probably have played the opening many times at friends' houses and such and thinking, man, my N64 can't do this one.

[00:36:29] And B, just saying like, this is cool. Like this feels like something made for me. And I didn't verbalize it then like this, but it was thinking back the genre, the video games as a thing kind of grew up a little bit. Like did like an age jump. Yeah. With us. And I, that's really cool that, that you kind of have a similar experience where it's like, yeah, Barrett's cursing. And there's like, they're talking about sex stuff.

[00:36:59] And I, a lot of that stuff flew over my head because I was 11, but like looking, but then like I would go back to it. Cause I, you know, it was what, it still is one of those games that like occasionally I'll fire it up and play through the intro again, just to, just to live that again. And every now and then I go, am I going to sit here and play through this? And I'll go, no, probably not. But, um, it like, I, it's still, you know, it's still hits, man. It just, it, there, there's something, there's something that just takes me back to that time.

[00:37:29] Like it was just, you know, it was a simpler time, but like a lot of, you know, it was, what a weird time in my life that the final fantasy seven time, because it was, that was a lot of stuff going on then as well. Like just in life, my life as an 11 year old boy, I grew up pretty quick. And so it was just perfect. You know, like I, like it was, it was like, no, this is, this is exactly what I, what I want here. Um, edge Lord me. Yeah.

[00:37:57] Listen, I mean, we, we all had those. Listen, I had a fair, my fair share of Jankos and Shane wallets and various hair products when I had hair. I totally, but I'm curious actually, since you're talking about as when you saw as a kid and played as a kid, were there characters that you identified with, um, in, in that? I have been thinking about that as a kid. I seen myself more as like a Barrett or a Sid because they were cussing. And I was like, I am cool. Like them.

[00:38:26] Um, I wasn't, I was not cool. Like them at all. Not many people were not at all. Um, but that's probably how I thought of myself. Um, as an adult, there are two characters. I kind of, uh, ring true with me as, as an asexual man. Um, cloud kind of rings true with me cause he does not understand flirting at all. And I'm like, I relate to that. Um, that is definitely, I can relate to that aspect of this character.

[00:38:53] Um, he's kind of a doofus and, and he tries, but he tries his best. And if you ask him to do something, he'll do it. And I'm like, I, I, I relate to this. Um, the other character is kind of a weird side character, but I, but it's definitely, um, one I've quoted him to this day and I always have, I always will probably, uh, that character is the Chocobo sage.

[00:39:18] Um, yeah, I think I remember the Chocobo. Hang on. Okay. The Chocobo sage. Uh, so let me, for those of you out there that don't know the Chocobo sage is, so if you're doing the whole Chocobo, um, uh, breeding stuff, right. He was out there in the, uh, in the, in the, the winter wonderland place. I forget. Icicle, uh, Icicle town. Oh, Icicle. What the hell was the name of that?

[00:39:46] Icicle in, uh, that's the one he was out in that area. Um, he was kind of off to the side. I think you had to have the high wind to get to him and you, and you, but when you found him every time you would go in there, he would give you a little bit more information about how to breed like mountain Chuck Chocobos and all that stuff. Um, yes. Okay. And that's what he did.

[00:40:11] But at the end of every single thing he would go, he would stop and go, Oh, I can't, I, I can't remember for the life of me. And I've quoted that all the time. I can't remember for the life of me. It's, it's, and that's where I got it from. That was the first time I was just like, Oh yeah. And, and the more, the older I get, the more I'm like, yeah, I remember this thing and this thing, but, and then I'll get to a certain point. I'll be like, Oh, I, I can't remember that for the life of me though.

[00:40:41] Like I was thinking about a lot of final fantasy seven and stuff today. And, and I remember a lot of that game. Like if you sat here and quizzed me on some stuff, I'd probably be pretty good at it. But like, there are certain parts where I'd probably go, Oh, I can't remember for the life of me, how that works. So the Chocobo sage is something as, as I get older that I'm like, I relate to this little guy. He was just a little floating head of some sort. I can't remember exactly what he was. It was purple and green floating. Yeah.

[00:41:10] Floating head guy. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's a character I relate to now as dumb as it sounds, but it's very true. I still, I feel that to my bones. I feel that I just, uh, yeah, I don't, I can't remember that. I can't. Yeah, exactly. But he's a very relatable guy. The older you get. Yep. Very cool, man. Very cool. Um, let's also talk a little bit about, I do want to talk about the intro, uh, because

[00:41:39] I think the intro of, of final fantasy seven is probably. I, and I don't want to say the best, but it's definitely top three most memorable. Oh yeah. Because again, it was in an era where we were playing it on every kiosk in the mall and we were playing at every wasn't GameStop back in the day, but if every, um, electronics boutique or every video game store you were at, they'd have a setup with it. So you were playing that all the time.

[00:42:07] Um, I played it again a few weeks ago, just again, starting to refresh myself for these interviews and you're the first one of these final fantasy sevens I've done. Nice. And yeah, so I'm still kind of early on in it. That's good. I, well, now it's all good, man. Yeah. And, uh, I like being prepared and. Yeah. I was struck by how beautifully paced it is. Like the pacing of that beginning from, from jump to Mako reactor exploding. And then even continuing then till you get to wall city, I think it's called wall city.

[00:42:37] Um, you're, you're talking, it's a sector seven is the first place you get to. Yeah. That's right. Sector seven. Yeah. Yeah. It's it is. The pacing is unbelievably. Oh yeah. Uh, and so I'm just curious how it felt because it sounds like you experienced it watching friends do it kind of after the fact. So I'm curious what your take on that, on that opening is like, why is this so good?

[00:43:04] But like, man, you know, I played through it, you know, a bunch of times and, and would still happily play through it. Um, it's, it's great. It's, it's, it's, it's one of those things that when you go when you in your brain, when you're a kid, it, it feels like it's like a really long section of the game and then you go back as an adult, you're like, oh, this is, this is super quick. Like you go through this really fast, but yeah, but it's awesome.

[00:43:30] It's like the, it's kind of like the perfect, like introduction to like the combat and like what's going on. Cause like you just get thrown in there and it is like right in it, you know, like it is just like, no, no, you're with these guys. They're blowing this thing up. Shut up. You're, you're a mercenary. You're going with them and you go and you, and then you do the thing and the alarm set goes off and, and all this stuff. And then you have to, then you beat a boss, then you run out because there's a timer going on, which stresses you out.

[00:43:59] And, and, but it's like that, that timer is like, it's, it's so like, like you really have to mess up to get, to not be able to do it. Yeah. But the fact that there's a timer puts, puts it in your head to like, I need to go though. I need to get out of here. Time to go. Um, time to go. So, so even like as an adult, knowing I have plenty of time, like I, I, it's going to be fine. I will still go, no, but I gotta go. There's something about that. That is like very real. Like if you were in that situation, if you set a bomb, you'd be like, I gotta go. I, we can't be in here.

[00:44:30] I, we got to go. Time to move. Yes, exactly. So it's, it's, it's really well done. Like they, they put it's the fact that it's there and if it does go off, it is game over. So like you have to go. Um, but like the, the likelihood of it happening is, you know, pretty low, but like, it's still, it's still a great little piece of pressure to be, to give you that sense of like stress and it's very well done. And then you get back and then you meet, you know, you meet, you meet the rest of the crew,

[00:44:58] you meet Tifa, you meet, um, you know, you get to talk to buried a little more. You meet, meet the rest. You get to actually like settle down and, you know, meet the rest of avalanche. And then, then they're like, all right, well, go, go enjoy the intro town where, where people just tell you it's a night. This is an item shop. This is a weapon shop, which is great. Um, yeah. Um, and you, you know, you get to do that. Um, and then you, you know, you're, you go to bed and basically it's like, all right,

[00:45:27] now we're bombing another one. You're like, oh, okay. Well, and which also sets it up perfectly because it's, they're kind of, they're very similar and you get to the point where you lay the bomb and then they, they do a different thing, you know? And it's like, oh, this is, it's cool. Like it, it sets it. It's really good. Like that. Yeah. That, that intro is great. Um, absolutely. And again, I haven't, I haven't played this in a while, so I'm going to lean on you for this.

[00:45:54] A lot of this actually is absolutely kind of how the game final fantasy. I think I, I don't know if I said this on stage, like when we were talking about it, but final fantasy seven feels very much. So I think I related it to like a Stephen King book where the story kind of just gets quicker and bigger and bigger. And then it kind of just ends. Yeah. Because you run out of disc space slash time. And Stephen King runs out of Coke and he's like, oh, time to time.

[00:46:24] Yeah. Yeah. Here's a, here's a space turtle. I mean, it feels like that. What's your take on how it concludes with the life stream and the Mako stream and all that stuff. So I, I suppose this would be one criticism that I would have of seven looking back at it would be, it is not so much the ending. I think actually the ending's really cool and interesting because they leave it so open like they're, they, they do and they don't write. Like they're like, okay, well, you know, nothing, it's fine.

[00:46:54] Everything's fine. But is it like, and you're kind of like, and then, you know, they flash forward at the end credits thing with red 13 and all that. But like, there are definitely a lot of things that they don't explain like fully well that they probably needed more time to breathe. Um, which I think is what they're trying to do in like the remake and all that stuff. And here's the thing. A lot of it was nonsense back then. That was that when I was a kid, I would sit there and be like, it was, it was more fun

[00:47:21] to, um, kind of try to, you know, when you like really like something, but like there are certain parts of it that are confusing. And so you just sit there and like kind of headcanon things and you're trying to explain it. Yeah. Yeah. That's, I did a lot of that as a kid and that was my, like my favorite part of it was like, I don't really understand this, but I'm going to try my best to understand it anyway and make sense of it. Yeah. Um, but like looking back at it when you're, when you're an adult and you're like, no, it

[00:47:50] just doesn't mention a lot of the stuff that information that you actually need to have here and just kind of jumps all over the place. Um, yeah, it's, it's a great game, but it's not without its flaws. Don't get me wrong. No, no, no question. No question. It says, I find that it's just interesting how everything escalates and the final fantasy would continue doing that. Like that, that's how, what final fantasy started becoming and continued to become where this

[00:48:17] constant escalation to sometimes ridiculous, ridiculous points where you're like, ah, yeah. Seven was seven was very much the start of that too. Like they, they, they, they're every single time after seven when people went, oh man, these cut scenes are awesome. And like, you look back at them, they're like, you know, laughably bad, but at the time they mind blowing. Um, but even, even when you look at it, not to cut you off real quick, when, even if, cause I was again, recently playing it. Yeah.

[00:48:46] The cut scenes are, they don't hold up visually, but their framing works again, the pacing works, the cinematography of it is really freaking cool. Like it is as a piece of cinema, I guess, or video game cinematic. It's very effective. Yeah. It doesn't look great anymore, but it's, it's still effective. It was 19, it was 30 years ago or whatever, 20 years ago. Yeah. It was, you know, it's not going to hold up as well.

[00:49:13] You know, that was, that was, you know, the new, that was where technology was at the time. You know, it was at the time it was like, I remember thinking final fantasy seven was the first time where I, like, I looked at a cut scene and was like, man, someday video games are going to look like these cut scenes and it's going to be crazy. Now they look way better than the cut scenes. Right. Yeah. Exactly. So like I, I was right to some degree. Um, but like, I remember with every final fantasy, I would think that because they would slowly up the game a little bit. And seven was the start of that.

[00:49:42] Like, uh, like every time I'd be like, man, I can't, I wonder what life's going to be like when games look like this. Now, now we're at a point where like final fantasy seven almost or final fantasies, in general, kind of like they just feel right with everything else. Cause everything's kind of even now, which is a little boring, but it's just, you know, the way video games are, um, yeah, it's just technology. Exactly. Um, but yeah, they seven was the start of that. Like they, they were like, no, it has to be bigger and it has, we have to do all this thing.

[00:50:11] In fact, that's how they've, you know, recently come out and said, well, this is how we define every final fantasy. We want to, it's like, well, I don't know if that's what you need to do. You, you should just make a cool RPG and make it be good story. But yeah, well, it's always kind of big. Final fantasy has always been known for, and I agree with you. Uh, seven is when it really hit the fan was when, like you said, every new final fantasy

[00:50:40] was supposed to be the best looking game on the system. Yes. At that time. Yes. For that time. So when final fantasy 10 comes out, that is the pinnacle of what you can get on the PS2. It absolutely was. Yeah. 13. When a 13 came out, that was one of the pinnacles, the best looking games you can get on the PS3. Yeah. And it absolutely was. Yeah. And again, with 15 and 16, we've now hit, like you've said, that point where every, everyone's kind of on the same playing field to a certain extent. Yeah.

[00:51:05] Um, so we can't do that anymore, but still, but still on fancy 16, the opening of it. Oh, they, they, some of it amazing. Their cut scenes and direct and all that are awesome. Like six. Yeah. Six. Right. Like in certain aspects, they're still shooting for that. They're still like kind of shooting for that. Like we're going to be the best looking thing on this. They definitely 100% are. And they probably, I, I wish they wouldn't sometimes like sometimes, like I wish they would

[00:51:31] like if they're, if they want to continue on with the, the numbered stuff, I wish they would kind of move away from it, but they probably won't. You know, this is probably what they're, what they viewed. And we have seven to blame for that. Like said the success of that game, it's always going to be kind of their thing and their, their mental vision of what that is. But I almost wish they'd scale back and like, Hey, here's a little final fantasy thing. And it looks like an Octopath traveler. It's cool. Right. I, I would absolutely love that. I've been saying about Zelda. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

[00:52:01] Let's go. I would love to see another, um, oh gosh, Link to the Past or any, any of that. Link to the Past. Well, whatever. Well, the, the, the second iteration, the 3ds one. Oh yeah. Link Between Worlds. Is that Link Between Worlds? Thank you. No problem. I would love to see another one of those games. Yeah. Link Between Worlds. That was great. I love that game. That game was so much fun. So yeah, I think that, I think there is something to be said for kind of scaling back, but I don't know if you can do that. I don't know.

[00:52:31] I don't know. I don't know if that's the. You couldn't do it with a numbered Final Fantasy, but you could say, here's the thing with the Final Fantasy name and it's this. Yes. And you, and, and people would go, okay. Like, and because it's labeled as a Final Fantasy, people would probably check it out. You know? Like if Octopath Traveler was labeled as a Final Fantasy thing, like people would have been like, oh, that's really cool. Not that Octopath Traveler did bad or anything like that, but if they would have labeled it or something like that and had, you know, had that kind of look to it at people would have

[00:53:00] been like, what a really cool thing. I'll definitely check that out. And it's, it doesn't have a ridiculous name. Awesome. Um, yeah. Yeah. Fair. Fair. Um, no, that's really, really cool. Um, we've already gone. I know you do long shows. You're fine. I have, I have extra time, so I'm not worried about it, but I did want to go back and if you don't want to get into it, that's fine. I just want to kind of touch on it a little bit.

[00:53:24] You, you mentioned that during this time period, final, it sounds like Final Fantasy seven got you through some stuff. Yeah. Um, in personal. And I'd love to hear a little bit of that. If you want to share it, if you don't want to. Oh, that's totally fine. No, this, this was during. The time when, let's see, I was in, let's see, I was in, I was 11. So it'd have been around sixth grade. So this was right before my parents got a divorce.

[00:53:52] So like while we were playing it, I think is when it did happen because this is when they started buying me stuff. They were just like, Oh, Hey, here's, you know, here, here's this, like, you know, here's the, Oh, do you want this, this, this Final Fantasy strategy guide? You don't even have the game. It's cool. Yeah. Just get it. It's cool. All right. Like that sort of thing. My grandpa had also passed away at the time. And that was a weird one. He, he, I loved my grandpa. He, he was like really cool.

[00:54:21] He, he owned a race car and did, he was the cool grandpa basically. But he, he, he also, um, there's also like weird circumstances around his death that my father is convinced it is. It's not even his father. This is the funny thing. Uh, it's my mom. It's on the mom's side of the family. Um, but he's, he's like convinced. He's like, no, I'm pretty sure your grandpa got murdered by his wife that who was my, my grandpa.

[00:54:46] I mean, he, he, you know, he had businesses and stuff like that and had money and they all think to this day that like, no, we think there was something that happened here where he got murdered, but like, she got away with it and then squandered all this money afterwards. Cause she, you know, got all of it. It's intense circumstances. Wow. And so I'm hearing all this stuff and, and yeah, Final Fantasy seven is kind of like, okay, yeah, let's just go play Final Fantasy seven and take our mind off of all this stuff.

[00:55:15] Cause this isn't, this isn't super great right now. That's a lot to absorb as an 11 year old. Like, yes, it was. Like, so you're hearing this in real time, but this is not like an after the fact. Wow. Yeah. Interesting. So it sounds like it was, it was a situation where he was able to kind of, an escape. Yeah. For the most part. This was, this, this is also another reason why Final Fantasy seven is like, you know, the, the reason why like video games cemented for me so much is because, um, you know,

[00:55:44] all this stuff is happening around this time. The life, life between sixth and, and I'm going to say freshman year of high school was absolutely insane. There's a lot more stuff that I won't get into. Um, that's fair. But, but, but, but, but because honestly it wasn't during Final Fantasy seven times, but like, because of Final Fantasy seven, I learned that, oh, I can, I can get away from this by just sitting here and playing this. And, you know, I, now, now clouds problems are my problems.

[00:56:12] And that's better than, you know, any of that stuff because it was something to, I found, finally found something to get absorbed into rather than, you know, just like, no face this head on and deal with it. It was just like, no, I just, just, I mean, yeah, I'll think about it while I'm sitting here doing this maybe, but this is a much, it was a better way to digest everything, I guess. I don't know. And I still kind of do things like that. I'll either, I play a lot of more stuff where I'm just like, yeah, it doesn't, there's no goal to this.

[00:56:41] I'm just going to sit here and, you know, make stuff and do this and not just kind of American truck simulator, American truck simulator, you know, so good. Get on the road. Yeah. I'm glad you liked that game. That's good. I really, I really, really liked that game. It's fun. It's fun. It's actually a lot of fun and I am terrible at parking that God forsaken thing. I take the easy park every time. I do the easy park every time. No, there's no, yeah. Why would you?

[00:57:07] It's like, it's, it's like, it's, it's a negligible amount of experience. It's like, who cares? No, it's a negligible amount of experience. There's, and it's not worth the frustration. I'll tell you a very quick story. I was, I was not to get past, but yeah, I was playing it and my wife walks in. I'm like, James, James, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta come here. You gotta see this game. And she's expecting, she's not a video game player much. She's not a gamer. And so she go, I'm like, James, I'm driving a truck. I'm driving a truck. She goes, okay.

[00:57:37] Huh? Yeah. I'm like, but, but James, I'm in like in Austin and like, it's like geographically accurate. And like, I can go down 71 East and head this way. And, and she's like, okay. So, so I go, Jane, give it a try. Yeah. And then she's like, okay. So she's doing it. And she's like, okay. And then she's to the point where you have to park. Now my wife prides herself, prides herself on her parking abilities. Oh yeah. She's good. Okay. She has a, we have a, we have a minivan cause we're that family.

[00:58:06] We get the two kids. Absolutely. We've totally given up on being cool. Yeah. We have a minivan and it's awesome. We carry all sorts of garbage in it. It's great. Hell yeah. She can, if she can't parallel park in one spot, her day is right. I see. And she's like a, right. So good at parking. Yeah. I am not. I do not have that skill. I am. I'm okay at best. So anyway, so then she tries to do the challenging truck parking in American truck simulator.

[00:58:36] And she's angling back and she's like, all right, what button do I hit to go forward? And she's, she's getting confused because it's looking backward and she's trying to go backward, but she's looking forward and she's not turning it right. And she lets out this guttural girl. She's like, I can't do this. This is too stressful. And she left the room. And I was like, Ooh, okay. I, if Jane can't do it, I had, I had a similar thing where I spent like, my time is taking down, I'm going to lose. Yeah.

[00:59:05] No, just bonus point. Just take this, just take the easy park. Yeah. No, it's not worth it, but it's, I, yeah, it's, I love it. I think it's a great game. Oh, it's, it's really fun. Like, I can't like any situation where it's like, now I must back the truck up. I'm like, well, I might as well just die. Uh, because that trailer is going, I'm going to jackknife this thing instantly. Or if I hit it, my, my favorite thing to do in that game is hit like construction or something and just go, well, Nope.

[00:59:34] I'm just going to drive right through this. I don't care. I would be arrested 500 times in that game. I don't care. I, I, I was going from someplace to someplace and I, and going along and it was at night. It was one of the night missions. And all of a sudden I'm busting the speed limit. I'm going 80, you know, which in one of these trucks is not easy to get up there. You got to really work to get up to 80. So I, and I see the construction way to not soon enough.

[01:00:02] And there was a construction, like it was like the road was closed. I think the game wanted me to take an off ramp and take a detour. Right through just right through. Yep. And then drive through. And then you see why the roads close. Cause there's a jackknife tractor trailer that I'm like angling around. You're just going, going off to the side. Yeah. Oh yeah. I, I, I love that. Oh yeah. It's great. I love it. I love emerging gameplay when, when it does stuff like that. I love that. It's just so fun.

[01:00:30] Sometimes you're just like, no, I'm not, I'm not deviating from this. Absolutely not. I don't know where I'm at. I'm in the middle of Oregon. I don't know Oregon. You don't know Oregon either. I'm 15 miles out of LaGrange. I don't know how I got here. I was just following the little arrow. Exactly. Like I do when I drive normally. I just follow the arrow. I don't know where I am at any given moment when I'm on the road. I, I 100%. I'm just in place. Yeah. I have no idea. No sense of direction. My wife makes fun of me so much.

[01:00:58] She's like, you have no, she's like, can you drop this thing off at this place? Where is it? We pass by it 15 times. I don't know. I just, I know. You don't look at, you don't look, you just look at the road. Yeah. This road. Yeah. I'm just following the damn arrow. That's about right. That's about right. Any other final thoughts on Final Fantasy 7 before we move on to our, to the second half of our conversation? And we can do another one of these once I, we'll probably do another one of these maybe once I talk to more people.

[01:01:24] And then I start building the actual episodes and see where I need holes. Oh yeah. So if you don't mind. Yeah. I do not mind at all. Just let me know, man. Um, but, um, final thoughts on it right now. Um, I, I still will always hold a special, very special place in my heart for Final Fantasy 7. It is, it is, I've said it before that it is my favorite game of all time. I, I kind of tend to stick with that. Although Disco Elysium is kind of creeping up on it. Like, I'm not going to lie to you.

[01:01:54] That's another game where a newer game that it just kind of creeps into my brain every now and then. But I'm like, but that one's really close. That one, that one hit, you know, 30, 37 year old me, like really hard. Well, 30, 38 now, but doesn't matter. It hit when it, when I played it, I was like, oh man, that's, that's something. But like, but then I think about Final Fantasy 7, I was like, but that was the one though. That was definitely the one. And it probably always will be.

[01:02:19] And, and, you know, I, I, I still play the remakes and, and it's, it's the one game bill that like, like I, I, when I said like, oh, if you, if you had to ask me something about that game, I could probably still tell you exactly where, where something is or how to do it and how to get it. I, I, like I beat, you know, I've beaten all the, the challenge bosses and all that stuff. Um, I, my, it, it, it holds my, my biggest gamer brag of beating Emerald and Ruby

[01:02:48] weapon within an hour. Like, whoa. Yeah. That's a big, that's a brag. That is. Yeah. That's incredible. I did that. I did that. That's awesome, man. But that's crazy. I, uh, like that's because, because I knew, you know, that's how well I knew the game. I was like, if I have these things, I can do this thing with an idea. It wasn't me trying to do it. It just happened to be like, oh, it's only been an hour and I beat both of them. Oh, cool. All right. That's awesome. Yeah.

[01:03:15] So, um, like I, I just, I, I know that game inside and out for the most part. Like I can usually tell, like, I could probably pick it up. I like, I, like we were talking about Nibelheim was the first thing I mentioned, right? I know that the, the, the, the mountain in Nibelheim, if I go there, I'm going to fight the, I don't remember his name exactly, but the crab boss. And I know I need to have an enemy skill equipped on me because he's going to cast trine on me. And that's a really good enemy skill for that point in the game. So I need to have that on there. These are just things there.

[01:03:44] There's a spot in my brain that is just reserved for final fantasy seven knowledge. And it always will be. Um, that's cool. So, and so it will always hold a special place in my brain and my heart. And, and that's basically it. Nine episodes down, two more to go.

[01:04:08] This series will end and it's ending with my favorite segments, a massive two part odds and ends compilation episode. I really considered just throwing out a three and a half hour episode, but I truly don't want these stories to get lost in the shuffle.

[01:04:31] I don't want somebody's really cool story to be on our 2.25 of a long episode and be lost. And I know my attention span. And while I trust my listeners to be more attentive than I, I, I just said, you know what? It's already been nine episodes. Let's just make it a solid 11 and go into the next final fantasy game. Not doing that many.

[01:04:58] I don't think any other game in the series is going to get this kind of treatment. So for the next two episodes, it's going to be an omnibus of just opinions and thoughts and random scraps cobbled together in some form or fashion in a hopefully entertaining way. Please stick around for it. There are some really cool things in that three and a half hours that have not been brought to light yet. I cannot wait to share it with you, but you can have to wait another week or two to hear

[01:05:27] more of your favorite people. Thank you again to Kev from the discord and for Pete Harney for editing these episodes. Thank you to my patrons as always. And thank you for listening and sharing these episodes of a gamer looks of 40. And until next time, please just be kind to yourselves and each other.